The excuse put forth by Journal News editor Cynthia Royle Lambert* for publishing the names and addresses of gun owners is that the public needs to know which of their neighbors homes is gun free and therefore a safe place for their own children to play. This is spurious nonsense, of course: the sole reason to publish the interactive map was to follow up on the Newtown massacre and harass gun owners while emotions run high.

But if child safety were indeed the point, the paper would do far more to advance that goal by compiling a data base (easily obtained from public records) of the location and owners of private swimming pools, which are at least 530X more likely to kill a child than a gun.Can’t sell papers doing that, naturally, and property owners might be annoyed and boycott your advertisers, but “if it saves the life of just one child …”

Here’s another thought experiment: just like guns, many autos are stolen on order – thieves look for specific vehicles that have been requested by car ring bosses. Suppose the Journal News were to compile and publish an interactive map showing the exact address of each registered car owner with the year, make and model of the cars he kept. No more cruising the streets, hoping to find a 2007 Honda Accord for the Boys from the Bronx, they could drive right over to 3 Gate House Lane in Mamaroneck and pick up what they wanted – oh joy!

Strip the emotional baggage away from the word “gun” and that’s exactly what the Journal has done. Even worse, they’ve set it up so that law abiding gun owners, those least likely (almost infinitesimally) to commit crimes with their guns will have them stolen and put out on the street, where they will be used by criminals against what, in the liberals’ dreams would be defenseless citizens. So would the Journal be praised for establishing a shopping bazaar for car thieves? I think not. Same logic here: love guns or fear them, right wing nut case like me or sane, sober liberal like yourself, we should all denounce this asinine act of the Journal News.

19 responses to “You can save these children or you can sign a gun-free zone petition”

Dude –
If they want to publish a useful list, why not one that has all the babes who have had boob jobs? It should also list marital status. And age and weight are essential. A picture would be nice, and of course all of her contact data.

Knowing if she is into spanking and light bondage would be very helpful, but I am not sure that is publicaly available. Being able to sort it by key criteria would be a big help.

Do you have any idea how much time and gas that would save me? If you want to tie it into all this Second Amendment crap, you can call it the “Killer Torpedo” list.

I disagree with your actions, pretty shocking for an attorney, and with those of the Journal as well. Both events are terrible abuses of the internet. As a retired attorney in California, I was quite embarrassed by your action, but now I understand that your blog is not about ethics, privacy, or consideration for others.

Comparing swimming pool deaths and gun use is a logical fallacy, as I am sure you are aware. No one wants to stop ordinary gun use. Americans are the best armed people in the world as it is. What we would like to see is reasonable gun registration, gun owners not allowed to stockpile or even buy automatic, semi automatic guns or rifles are modified to allow repeat rapid fire. Canada has a reasonable gun law, and we could undoubtedly find something as well that works for all of us, somewhere between the wild west attitude of mostly male American gun owners (I agree some women are twisted as well), and a totally gun free society, which will never happen here.

It is nonsense to suggest arming teachers or putting armed guards in schools. Are you aware of any other developed nation that has to do that?

The Journal News’s action in posting that map did more to fire up gun owners and ensure fierce opposition to additional laws than any propaganda the NRA might have sent out. The paper graphically demonstrated what could be done with gun ownership registration and yes, they do want to confiscate every weapon in this country -Governor Cuomo admitted it and so did Mike Bloomberg. You won’t say it, they just did.
Linking swimming pools to gun ownership a logical fallacy? Not if the claim for revealing the addresses of gun owners was that it would serve to protect children. Go drain the pools, then come back for my guns.

That “lady” in CA is none too bright and representative of the lightly educated. Older article but still true.

…Sometimes, the data sounds too good to be true. In 1993, not a single armed robbery was reported in Geneva.

In a word, Switzerland, which is awash in guns, has substantially lower murder and robbery rates than England, where most guns are banned.

The world was horrified on April 20 when two students used guns and bombs to murder a dozen classmates and a teacher in Littleton, Colorado. The Congress is now stampeding to pass additional restrictions on the acquisition of firearms.. Yet in 1996, a pederast who legally owned guns under England’s strict regulations went on a rampage in which he murdered 16 children and a teacher in Dunblane, Scotland. The Parliament responded with an outright ban on all handguns and most rifles.

There have been no school shootings in Switzerland, but guns and kids sure do mix there. At all major shooting matches, bicycles aplenty are parked outside. Inside the firing shelter the competitors pay 12-year olds tips to keep score. The 16-year-olds shoot rifles along with men and women of all ages….

Actually the woman in CA is so ignorant it’s really hard to believe and a disgrace to thinking people everywhere.

gardnlady1: You write It is nonsense to suggest arming teachers or putting armed guards in schools. Are you aware of any other developed nation that has to do that? Yes, Israel.

If you favor the gun laws of Canada, I urge you to move there. It is a beautiful under-populated country and I’m quite sure they’d embrace you. But in as much as you live in California, please be forewarned on Canada’s climate. It’s often quite cold up there.

Even though Canada has some of the strictest gun laws when it comes to hand guns, that didn’t stop a young woman from being shot down and killed in a gang related shootout exactly seven years ago today who was who was out for a day on the town in the busy downtown shopping district of Toronto on Boxing Day, one of the busiest shopping days of year. Sort of like being shot while shopping on Greenwich Avenue or 5th Avenue and 57th Street in NYC. Criminals will always be able to get guns no matter what laws you pass, even if they have to make them themselves — remember zip guns (Google it if you don’t).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day_shooting

Who doesn’t want to know what their neighbors are shoving up there ass? I have a right to know if my neighbor may try and use my Reindeer lawn ornaments as a butt plug. Right?

And if my female neighbor has a penchant for getting her hoo haa stuck on the bed post, I need to know that, in case she ever needs some help. Correct? Plus I now know I really do need to get to know her better.

And what possessed you to shove a loaf of French bread up your ass? You couldn’t just make some garlic bread?

I — an actual resident of Greenwich and parent and occasional poster here — am with you, Gardnlady1. The lame comparisons with swimming pools and cars — which are visible to neighbors, not intended to kill, and obviously part of public tax information — just show how desperate and out of touch the insecure gun-huggers are. Chris, you never had a problem when the Greenwich papers published the annual “Grand List” which shows the names and addresses of the owners of the most expensive cars in Greenwich and the most expensive properties in Greenwich. Where is your outrage over their possible risk at the hands of criminals?

Bravo Mr Fountain its time to use the libs own tactics againist them and let them suck on it awhile.Invade their little utopia and see them run like roaches when the lights come on.They are just looking for an excuse to take every gun in the USA but it will NEVER happen people.Dream on Bloomberg and I dont give a rats rear how much money you got.You shouldnt even be mayor but you change the city charter for you to run again and now you think you are going to change the 2nd amendment too.Keep dreaming imp.

Go to the Whitehouse website and sign the petition to have gun free zones established around the President and Vice-President for their safety and protection. Demand that they be as well protected as you are.

Perhaps responsible parents also need to know which houses have natural gas stoves instead of electric, so they can prevent their children from playing at all the houses with those terrible, dangerous gas stoves.

Or all the houses with chemical cleaning agents on hand.

Or all the houses with handiman work benches where saws and screwdrivers and drills are found.

The argument about who should be armed, and how and when is really not the argument. The right to bear arms is not only for a militia, it is to ensure that if the government starts to impose its will outside of the confines of the Constitution, where it has occurred (New Orleans, LA during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina) then we the citizenry will be able to respond in kind. If you don’t have a gun or don’t want one that is fine but don’t try to impose that mode of thinking on the rest of us. It wasn’t the gun that has killed it was the tool used. The pool analogy I believe is as close to a credible one as possible, while yes you can’t fit a pool in your car, drive it to a school and force the children into it, it belies the central argument that the news paper was attempting to make, it’s about safety. As if the residents of this area, are all suffering from some sort of mental instability whom would then, go to the local school and attempt another shooting, that is the silly argument there. I find it peculiar that most of these rampage shootings occur in the bluest of the blue states where as those of us in the red states don’t seem to have this same type of mass shootings.